The present invention generally relates to a coin actuation mechanism for vending machines and, more particularly, is concerned with a multi-coin operated actuation mechanism for a vending machine.
Products, such as gumballs and plastic capsules or balls containing candy or other novelties inside, are well-known and universally popular with consumers. Typically these products are sold in bulk vendors commonly referred to as vending machines. The vending machine basically includes a product reservoir, a coin-operated actuation mechanism, a dispensing mechanism and a product discharge structure. Historically, these four basic components of a vending machine were designed to cooperate in a single dispensing cycle, in response to insertion of a coin of predetermined denomination into a single slot, to serially transfer an item or items of product from the product reservoir down through the dispensing mechanism to an external discharge location via the product discharge structure. So, historically, the dispensing mechanism of the vending machine was designed to be actuated and controlled by insertion of only one coin into only one slot of a coin-operated actuation mechanism.
However, as the variety of product items sold in vending machines, the number of items sold per single dispensing cycle and the price of items all increased over time, modifications of coin-operated actuation mechanisms in various ways were undertaken to accommodate a need to increase the number of coins to operate the actuation mechanism. Representative prior art examples of modifications in various ways of accommodating increase in coins are disclosed in coin-operated actuation mechanism of U.S. Pat. No. 3,970,181 to Rubio, U.S. Pat. No. 4,350,239 to Tsuiki, U.S. Pat. No. 4,673,074 to McCormick, and U.K. Pat. Spec. No. 929,396 to Maxwell. In the actuation mechanisms of these examples, the use of a single slot is retained whereby all coins are fed into the coin-operated actuation mechanism through the same coin slot. Insertion of additional coins through the single slot is retained whereas either an increase in number of coin recesses is provided on a coin carrier wheel as in Rubio and McCormick or an increase in the width of the single coin recess on the coin carrier wheel is provided as in Tsuiki and Maxwell to accommodate one or more coins therein. These modifications often entail the necessity to make other extensive collateral changes to the actuation mechanism which adds to the complexity and cost of the modifications.
Other prior art examples of coin-operated actuation mechanisms using a pair of angularly-spaced coin insertion slots on the cover plate and a pair of angularly-spaced coin recesses on the coin carrier plate are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,657,848 and 5,924,542 to Schwarzli and U.S. Pat. No. 7,222,711 to Chang. One other coin-operated actuation mechanism known in the prior art employs several interchangeable coin carrier wheels each with a pair of angularly spaced coin recesses defined in the coin carrier wheel which align with a pair of angularly spaced coin insertion slots in the front plate. The pairs of coin recesses of the different interchangeable coin carrier wheels have different widths in order to accommodate different combinations of coins in them. The actuation mechanism also has a pair of coin diameter sensing dogs pivotally mounted to the front plate adjacent to coin carrier wheel and the circular path of travel of each of the recesses as the coin carrier wheel is rotated and thus aligned with the possible coin-receiving regions of the recesses. To accommodate the presence of different combinations of void and/or solid regions in defining the different widths of the recesses in the interchangeable coin carrier wheel for receipt of the different combinations of coins, the coin diameter sensing dogs of the actuation mechanism also need to be interchangeable, with some of the dogs having a working end so that when aligned with a void region in the coin recess of a given coin carrier wheel it will engage with a trailing edge of the recess in absence of a coin in the void region and block rotation of the carrier wheel or will engage with a coin in the recess and ride over the coin allowing the coin carrier wheel to continue its rotation. An alternate or different coin diameter sensing dog having a non-working end will be substituted for the just-described one with the working end and used in conjunction with a solid region of a substituted coin carrier wheel which is one that does not accept a coin. The non-working end of the dog will contact the solid region and ride over the same allowing the coin carrier wheel to continue rotation. Thus, time-consuming and tedious interchanges of both the coin carrier wheels and the coin diameter sensing dogs is envisioned to adapt the actuation mechanism to accommodate the use of different combinations of multiple coins.
Consequently, the aforementioned examples of the solutions of the prior art do not seem to provide an optimum solution for the problem at hand. Therefore, a need still remains for an innovation which will provide a solution to the aforementioned problem in the prior art without introducing any new problems in place thereof.